With normal kids, I concur. BUT a key point you made is: "I don't know about autistic children,". With autistic or even bi-polar children, the "typical" strategies do not work. Their brains are wired differently. They respond in ways that may seem bizarre, because to the non-autistic or non-bipolar - they are. It isn't a question of whether the teachers were allowed to discipline the kids and again, I agree that this has been a failing of the school systems over the years. The greater issue is whether the teachers in a class specifically for Special Needs kids had even the slightest CLUE about what the fuck they were doing! And if they did, are the systems and procedures put in place by anyone with a clue, or just to call the cops every time something happens? This behavior is not unusual for autistic kids. What's unusual is the method of dealing with it. Why were apparently clueless teachers assigned to the class? Or why were inappropriate procedures in place? Was this actually a special needs child or was he "diagnosed" by a teacher rather than a qualified professional? Autism is frequently misdiagnosed and mistreated. As is ADD, ADHD, bi-polar and Borderline Personality disorder. All are real, all are as frequently misdiagnosed as correctly diagnosed. Add to this the idea that "mainstreaming" is always the answer (though it apparently wasn't the issue here) and the goal of actually educating the kids in not only missed...it's impossible!